


thrills and feels

by yetnotyet



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, a tiny bit of angst, kinda coming of age?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23086285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yetnotyet/pseuds/yetnotyet
Summary: Jinsol is getting her driver's license. And learning how to drive, in a sense, is like falling in love.
Relationships: Jo Haseul/Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul
Kudos: 39





	thrills and feels

The hammer for the Whack-A-Mole was broken, and now her hands hurt just a bit. She had promised to take Hyejoo and Chaewon to the carnival, even if it took a while to get there. Jinsol wanted to practice her driving skills so she could pass the exam first try and go on a road trip with everyone.

Now, she wanted to find the two girls so they could go on the bumper cars together. She was pretty sure Hyejoo would make a spectacle out of it, but it was fun, either way. It was not like Hyejoo was allowed to drive actual, real cars. Jinsol had the upper hand on that.

So she went looking around, her hands still a little sore from whacking moles left and right, and finally located the two girls spinning madly on the Crazy Teacups. Chaewon was giggling wildly as Hyejoo spun the handle as fast as possible, and they were both smiling so wide Jinsol felt a pang of envy hit her. They really were soulmates, and that fact was undeniable once you saw them like this.

Jinsol waited until their time on the teacups had run out. She wasn't about to mention how happy they looked, or how perfect they seemed together, but it was still on her mind as they walked up to her with their hands naturally clasping together and their hearts beating from the euphoria.

"Let's go on the bumper cars." Jinsol said simply, pushing them in front of her to keep moving and not stay static in one place, but also so she could silently marvel at their chemistry without any of them noticing she was doing so.

"You wanna lose that badly, Jinsol?" Hyejoo remarked, still a little out of breath from laughing so much, tightening her hold on Chaewon's hand just to make sure she was still there.

"Yes, I love losing to you."

Jinsol had a smile on her face as they headed to the bumper cars, gleefully picking the blue one and entertained as hell as she watched Hyejoo and Chaewon struggle to decide whether they would pick separate cars or go together. She was even more entertained when Chaewon decided to go against the grain and throw a devilish stare at Hyejoo before hopping on a single car.

"Okay, it's on." Hyejoo said, and then nothing else. Jinsol was still deciding in her mind whether this was just playful banter or an actual competition between the two, but it was fun to watch either way. She fastened her seatbelt, and gripped her hands on the plastic steering wheel, as ready as ever.

The machines started rolling, and Jinsol stepped on the gas. She immediately headed for Hyejoo, confident that she would be a worthy opponent. The front of her car smashed against the side of Hyejoo's, and she was rocked on her seat.

"Take that!" Jinsol fist-bumped the air, retracting her car and preparing for another barrage. But her plan was foiled by Chaewon immediately blocking her view, as she smashed into both of them, successfully springing Jinsol in her seat and breaking her concentration.

"Let's tag-team her, Chaewon!"

 _Oh no,_ Jinsol could only try to back away as she saw Chaewon lift up a thumb in agreement.

Well, she did say she loved losing.

After Jinsol had enough of being smacked from one side to the other by the two, they left the bumper cars and went to get some snacks. Of course, she paid for Hyejoo's corn dog and Chaewon's hot, seasoned fries, and got herself some butter popcorn to munch on casually as she wasn't very hungry.

"I do enjoy this star treatment." Hyejoo pointed out, taking a big bite out of her corn dog.

"Of course you do."

"We're gonna come here more often when you get your license, right?" Chaewon asked, more excited than ever.

"Yup. Prepare yourselves to be driven everywhere. Once I stop stalling all the time, it's over."

Their energy had mellowed out a ton by the time they finished their snacks, and now it was just nice and quiet. Jinsol wondered whether the conversation would continue if she wasn't there, whether it would flow like water, because of how natural they were with each other. It's not like they avoided being affectionate with each other when Jinsol was around, but the mood was just… different. She wondered if their feelings had ever waned, or if they had ever changed, somehow. But most of all, Jinsol just wondered how it felt.

How it felt to fall in love with someone.

Jinsol wouldn't ask. She wanted it to happen, first, and hopefully she would figure it out by herself. Hopefully she wouldn't be oblivious about it, or miss the signs. And hopefully, they would love her back. Hell, maybe it wouldn't last. But she would be happy to have that experience in the first place.

She would be happy to feel that way about someone, no matter who it was. And maybe, luck would be on her side - they would be happy to feel that way about her.

Jinsol crossed her fingers, and looked up at the sky, silently wishing.

[...]

  
  


In some ways, driving a car was kind of like learning how to ride a bicycle. There were some quirks to it, and you would probably fail and fall very often. But slowly, but surely, you would get the hang of it. And then, it would become natural, and you would never forget it - even if years passed and you were no longer a small kid.

Sure, there were a lot more quirks when it came to driving a car. Such as the parking break, or the headlights, or the fact that you had to have a lesson in the rain so you wouldn't skid and crash somewhere - but those were just minor details in regards to the bigger picture. The most basic thing was knowing how much space you were occupying on the street, and being careful on the clutch. If you slipped the clutch, you were back to black.

"It's so complicated. It scares me a little."

Jinsol smiled at Haseul, sympathetic. Yes, it could seem that way. But really, once you got the hang of it, it wasn't that bad. Sometimes, the car could be rickety, and drive you crazy and stress you out, but sometimes, it just flowed.

 _Like water_.

"Just picture learning how to drive as like… falling in love."

Jinsol didn't quite understand why she had said that, but now it was too late to take back. And she supposed it could make sense, even if she hadn't ever fallen in love.

"How would you know?" Haseul was understandably curious after hearing that.

"I… really don't. But I imagine it's similar. Like, the basics are pretty straightforward, much like liking someone, but then all this seemingly complicated stuff comes in and you panic and all that jazz. But once you get the hang of things, it just clicks."

It was something she had only noticed now, but Jinsol really loved the excessively attentive way Haseul had of listening to her. It was like she paid extra attention, even though Jinsol might have been reaching at this point. But it really did feel nice. It made her feel special. She supposed it made her like Haseul even more; in a way, made her love Haseul. What kind of love, though, she wasn't sure. But in that moment, she loved Haseul.

"I guess it makes sense." Haseul nodded thoughtfully, staring at Jinsol's hands as they rested on the steering wheel. Her hands were awfully pretty, maybe even pretty enough to hold. But Haseul wouldn't just reach over and grab them. She wasn't that brave. "It probably takes some practice, though."

"Yeah. Guess you need to get your heart broken just a little before it works."

Haseul laughed, but it was a kind of pained, _yeah that sounds about right_ laugh. They left the car and went back to the house, where things were a little more chaotic.

"The dynamics are different! You can't compare them!" Yerim was shouting, and there was obviously a very important debate going on.

"Hey, you two- mind piping in on the subject?" Jungeun pointed at Haseul and Jinsol, who were very much confused by what was going on.

"Enlighten us first, and then we might." Jinsol quipped, sitting beside Sooyoung on the couch. She was trying to figure out why the couples were facing each other on the carpet, but it was obviously a moot point, since someone would eventually explain, anyway.

"We're trying to decide on the best pairing. I obviously prefer Hyejoo and Chaewon, but these idiots want to say Heejin and Hyunjin are better."

"That's because those are your daughters." Haseul rolled her eyes at Sooyoung. It was bound to be a matter of conflict for the two of them.

"That's because it's facts."

"Okay, okay, no need for this. We all have our favorites, okay?" Jinsol tried to calm the environment down, but it only fired things up more.

"Yeah? And what's your favorite, then? Tell us."

Jinsol didn't expect to be put on the spot like that. Of course she would be honest, but things tended to backfire for her when she did. _This fucking sucks._

"It's… it's hyewon."

Heejin looked shocked. Hyunjin didn't seem to mind too much, but she also looked a little sad. Haseul, on the other hand, looked completely betrayed. And to think they were having a nice moment minutes ago.

"Can't fucking trust people." Haseul got up and left, shaking her head in disbelief. Honestly, Jinsol didn't blame her too much for reacting that way. She just wished she hadn't been so nonchalant about it.

Jinsol got up to go after her, but Kahei stopped and muttered _let me_ , pushing Jinsol back on the couch. She pursed her lips and nodded, letting the older girl go on ahead. She crossed her arms and sighed.

"You guys had to start these stupid discussions..." she muttered under her breath, and no one seemed to hear it.

"Hey, Jinsol." Sooyoung poked her on the shoulder, taking her attention away from the frustration.

"What?"

"Can you pick me up from this party on the 20th? I have a ride there, but not one home."

Jinsol shrugged. "Sure. My instructor said I can drive when the traffic's not too bad."

"Cool. Thanks."

"No problem."

She just wished she had stayed on the car a little longer with Haseul. Jinsol should've just stalled a little more, talked a little more. Maybe, then, they would have missed this discussion entirely. But that was the bad part of having such a large group of friends - there were just so many who wanted to cause some trouble, no matter how. And so many who were easy to hurt.

Jinsol turned her head to the side, and closed her eyes, imagining she was fidgeting with the gears, practicing from going from _one_ to _two_ to _three_ to _four_ to _five_ , comfortably doing 60 on the freeway, the windows rolled down and a blast of cold air hitting her hair, not enough to tangle it, but enough to make it look crazy. There was music playing, some sort of heavy synth blaring, just loud enough that the wind wasn't disrupting it. And Haseul was on the passenger seat, leaning on the open window, but her hand was on Jinsol's thigh, and her hair didn't look crazy, but beautiful.

She fell asleep picturing it, and dreamed of it for a while.

[...]

  
  


Jinsol had her nerves on an all time high that day. The exam was inching closer, just over a week left and then she would have to prove her might. But that was the last thing on her mind. The first thing on her mind was how she was probably thinking about Haseul a little too much. She still had not talked to her, and the lack of interactions between them was starting to drive her up the wall. Was it that much of a big deal that she preferred Hyejoo and Chaewon? Couldn't they ever just solve this and go back to what they were? Jinsol missed Haseul's carefulness in every single way.

She just wished they could talk things out.

Meanwhile, Jungeun was coming to visit. She wanted to take a couple loops around Jinsol's neighborhood. It was a pretty wide neighborhood, and not a lot of cars in sight. And it was nice, because Jinsol needed the practice, anyway.

"It's not a bad car, huh?" Jungeun rapped her knuckles on the hood, and it made Jinsol laugh just a bit.

"No, it's not. You can get pretty nice used cars, actually."

Jinsol felt insanely more comfortable behind the wheel when there was someone she cared about watching. She didn't know if it was only the fact that she felt an obligation to drive well when a person she knew was around, but it gave her a massive amount of confidence. It also helped that Jungeun was such a familiar face.

"Well, drive me around, gearhead!"

She didn't need to say anything else, and they were off. The clutch never slipped; she always let go of it slowly and smoothly. The car never redlined or roared, the gears always moved up or down quite easily. Jinsol felt as cool as a cucumber.

"Wow, you're a natural!"

"Well, thank yee." She did a way over the top bow, and turned into the main street with ease.

"You would nail your exam if there wasn't something on your mind."

"What?" Jinsol turned her head so quickly she felt the whiplash.

Jungeun laughed, but it was obviously ironic. "Come on, Jinsol. You're hitting those brakes a little too hard today. You're clearly upset about something."

_Oh, of fucking course. And I thought I was killing it._

She gripped the steering wheel a little too tight, her knuckles turning white. Jinsol parked the car without a word, turning off the engine. It was better this way.

"Jungeun."

"What?"

"Have you ever fallen in love?" The words came out of her mouth as easy as the wind in that afternoon.

Jungeun furrowed her eyebrows at this, suddenly thoughtful. However, the thoughtfulness was a disguise, as the question had a very clear answer in her head.

"I have. Once, actually." She decided to be truthful. After all, she thought if it was her in the situation, she wouldn't like to be lied to.

"What is it like?" Jinsol wasn't looking at her - because she was pondering, her eyesight spacing out into nothingness. But the question was very direct, and it was clear Jinsol was seeking an answer.

"It… kinda sucks for a while, actually. It makes you a little insane, because you keep asking yourself whether you're sure about it, whether you're actually feeling it, but those feelings can't simply be denied. They're there, you know? You can't just put them in a box and forget about them, especially if you see her pretty much every day and she's your best friend."

"Jiwoo?" Jinsol wondered out loud, her eyes still wandering.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

"I'm sure she's in love with you too." She said this in a low tone, but a high amount of conviction.

And Jinsol was being truthful. Jiwoo and Jungeun might not have been an official couple yet, well, not in the past two years like Heejin and Hyunjin, or a little more recently, like Chaewon and Hyejoo. But they were so tight-knit, you could see there was something there. A spark, perhaps, a spark that just needed a little bit of fuel.

Well, there was your fuel.

But Jinsol was still puzzled as to what exactly she was feeling toward Haseul.

"I guess we should talk about our feelings, right?" Of course it was a hint to Jinsol just as much as it was a hint to Jungeun. They needed to talk about their feelings. There was no way around it. Even if talking about their feelings seemed like such a complicated mess, and they would probably stumble and stall and have a bit of trouble. But it needed to be done.

"If you can do it, then I can do it. We both do it, Jinsol. We both do it or none of us do."

Jinsol sighed, but there wasn't much else to do, really. It was either that, or running away forever. And running away forever really wasn't economically viable.

"Okay. Fine, deal."

"Fistbump it." Jungeun formed a fist, looking at Jinsol with a smile.

"Fistbumping it."

" _Tra la la!"_

They both laughed at how ridiculous all of it was. But there was a small amount of relief, a bit of weight out of their chests. And it really did help, and it really did lighten the load.

Jinsol's foot was no longer too heavy on the brakes.

[...]  
  


Sooyoung had sent her a text saying to come pick her up, and a house address that Jinsol really didn't recognize. Sooyoung was such a party girl these days, and it was a bit weird, because they would all habitually call her grandma or make fun of her bones cracking like dead leaves on the ground.

Jinsol had been parked outside in the car for twenty minutes now, and absolutely no sign of Sooyoung coming out of the house. She tried texting, calling; none produced any response. She was starting to get a little worried about Sooyoung, because she was usually a responsible person - she was not the party girl type, she only looked like it.

It really was weird, and Jinsol was thinking about coming inside when she finally popped out, with glitter still in her eyes and her skirt riding up just a little. It was such an odd sight, but Jinsol wasn't about to question it as Sooyoung opened the car door and slammed it behind her.

"Hey, can you not do that?" Jinsol was starting to get a little annoyed, and even more so with the way Sooyoung absolutely ignored her request, immediately trying to put her feet up on the dash. "Don't do that either."

"Fine." Sooyoung begrudgingly put her feet down, rolling her eyes. "I just think it's funny."

Sooyoung clearly smelled of alcohol, although she wasn't quite drunk - but definitely buzzed.

"What is funny?"

"They say they care, but they fucking don't."

"If you're talking about the people at your party, then, yeah. You're right."

It had been quite easy to get to the house, but now that they were driving away, Jinsol's frustration was making it hard for her to have good control of the car. She decided to just stop in front of a convenience store; after all, it seemed like a productive conversation was on the way.

"Why are you stopping here?"

"So we can talk. You clearly haven't been acting like yourself in the past month. What's going on?"

Sooyoung sighed, and Jinsol knew full well she would deny the changes - although they had been clear as day. But she didn't, instead, staying silent for a minute. Suddenly, tears started flowing through her eyes, and it was such a scary sight to see Sooyoung cry, it made Jinsol want to tear up too. Just what the hell had been happening right under her nose for all this time?

"I can't do this, Jinsol.." She hid her face with her hands, curling up into a ball on the passenger seat. Jinsol tentatively patted her on the back, trying to comfort her, but it was so hard to try and do so when she had no fucking clue what was going on.

"What is it…? You're scaring me."

"Y-you don't know what it's like- I have to hear her talk about her every single goddamn day.. a-and it hurts.."

Jinsol was drawing circles on her back, trying to piece together what exactly was happening from a few sentences, most of them muffled by coughs and sniffles.

"It must suck.."

Sooyoung took a deep breath, and leaned back into the seat, drying her face with some tissues Jinsol had offered her. She shook her head one, two, three times, probably in disbelief of something, maybe even her own state of affairs.

"Look at me. I'm a mess. And it's all my own fault. Maybe I could have stood a chance if I just said how I felt the first time I felt it. But I just let it grow, and grow, and grow more until I couldn't see myself over her, but I couldn't see myself without her. I can't heal. I can't live. I try to drag myself away but I keep getting pulled back in. Is this fair, Jinsol? Is this fair to a person who's only fallen in love once? And is it fair to me, who's fallen in love a thousand times with the same girl?"

"You're in love with Jiwoo." That was the only thing Jinsol could mutter. The plot just kept getting more intense, and she wished she could have seen this coming, but it really was a shock. Sooyoung was so good in acting sly and like she wasn't interested in anyone, when in fact, she was. And not just interested, either, but fully invested and hurting over something she had no control over.

"And it really sucks, because she would never see me as anything more than a friend, and the reason is clearer than ever. She fucking loves Jungeun, and I'm the only one she trusts enough to confess it to."

"Fuck, Sooyoung."

"Yeah, fuck Sooyoung. That's basically it. And it makes more sense now. I would never be able to help her grow. I'm too selfish. Jiwoo needs someone who understands her worth, and doesn't snipe it away. And I'm not that person."

Jinsol sighed once again, and the disbelief was still incredibly high in her veins. Not that she didn't believe the situation was real, but only that it was so insane she refused to accept it entirely. And she didn't even know for how long this was happening.

"This is messed up, Sooyoung. I don't know what else to say, or what to do."

"Yeah. I know. That's why I was at that party. I just wanted to forget, for a moment, because anywhere else just makes me remember. I just want to forget. I just wanna feel something that isn't this pain."

The nerves were overcoming her, and Jinsol was suddenly hyper aware of how close they were in the car. She felt it encompassing her, just this need to do something, and nothing else seemed to come up in her mind, so Jinsol did the only thing that came up; she kissed Sooyoung. It felt.. right, somehow, almost like they both needed it. Because, in a sense, they did.

"This is.. kinda weird." She muttered after backing away from Sooyoung's lips. It was not like she was a bad kisser, but all the recent events were slowly coming back to her and it suddenly felt both wrong and right to kiss Sooyoung.

"You're thinking about Haseul, aren't you?"

Jinsol's eyes widened and she let her head hang low, taking slow breaths. "I don't want to hurt her more."

"No one does, Jinsol. But I'm so awkward with Haseul that it's not even funny. But you're not. So take that, and do something with it. Do what I failed to do."

The blonde nodded slowly. She was starting to think the universe was chucking hints like fastballs at her, but she was probably too slow to catch them just then. But right now, there was a hint resting on her hands, just waiting for her to notice it.

"I guess I should talk to Haseul."

"Yeah, genius."

Jinsol turned the engine back on, and drove Sooyoung home. It seemed that, that night, they were starting to slowly come to terms with a couple of things that didn't make sense before.

[...]

  
  


Jinsol wasn't expecting Haseul to pop at her door in the morning, but Haseul had stopped doing the expected a long time ago. She seemed angry and sad, but most of all, she seemed utterly defeated, and it made Jinsol's mind a whirl of emotions she didn't know how to describe.

"Come on in." She said, and not a word more. It didn't feel good to make Haseul wait for something that had been ready to come out for a long time now. And it didn't make sense now, especially knowing about the promise she had made to Jungeun that afternoon - _talk about our feelings._ Well, how would she talk about something she didn't even understand yet?

But she did want to talk about it. Well, at least the first one, the topic they both knew they were avoiding; playing favorites.

"I just want to say I'm sorry. I didn't explain myself correctly that day."

"You were there, Jinsol. You were there when Hyunjin asked Heejin to be her girlfriend. So why not them?"

Jinsol sighed. "I… I don't know. I guess I'm finding myself drawn to Chaewon and Hyejoo these days. Maybe they're not that different, after all. But Heejin and Hyunjin spend so much time by themselves, and I guess I just feel a little cut out."

"I can understand that."

"So you forgive me?"

Haseul nodded slowly, the shadow of a smile on her lips. "I forgive you. The situation was stupid, anyway."

And the careful way Haseul watched her was back with a vengeance. But this time, Haseul did reach for Jinsol's hand. She was brave enough. And Jinsol let her take her hand, and mutter how pretty it was, and note (inside her head, of course) how she could hold it for a long time.

"Your exam is tomorrow?"

"Yup."

"Are you prepared?"

Jinsol took a moment to think. If there would be only driving involved, then, sure. Jinsol trusted herself enough not to let nerves get in the way when it came to driving. But she wasn't sure she trusted herself not to let nerves get in the way of trying to explain her feelings for Haseul.

She couldn't even explain them to herself.

So, in the moment, Jinsol decided not to. She thought it would be better when things felt a bit more concrete. Right now, the Haseul inside her mind, and how she felt about her - it was all still setting, and needed more time for it to really feel… right.

"I think I am. I hope I am."

"I hope so, too, Jinsol."

Jinsol took her word for what it was worth, and fell asleep that night thinking about it.

[...]

  
  


It was a cold morning when she got awaken by her alarm. Jinsol followed her routine to a T, brushing her teeth and getting her documentation ready. It was too vital for her - to forget something and then not be able to take the driving exam would be a disaster.

The rain was just starting to fall as she took the bus to the test location, serene drips of water which quickly turned into a steady stream of continuous, but rather forgiving rain. It persisted as she arrived at the place, only getting a tiny bit lighter when her name was called by the examinator waiting by the car.  
  


**two days later**

Jinsol heard a knock on the door, but didn't run to check it. She calmly got up from the couch, and walked slowly.

"Oh, it's you. Hey." Jinsol serenely greeted Jungeun, who furrowed her eyebrows at the lack of energy in this Jinsol.

"Don't sound so disappointed." Jungeun barreled inside as one does, trying to gauge the atmosphere of the apartment. "What happened to my usual dorky Jinsol?"

"She's gone with the wind." Jinsol answered apathetically. She sat back down on the couch and started browsing Netflix again.

Jungeun suddenly looked like she just remembered she left the stove on. "You didn't pass the exam, did you?"

Jinsol stared at her. "What? Of course I passed."

"Then why do you seem so down?"

"Because..." Jinsol swallowed nothing but air, closing her eyes and letting go of the remote. "because learning how to drive is not like falling in love. You learn and fail and learn again, and then… you get it. You pass, you get your license, and you're set. And if you learned correctly, you don't make mistakes- you can do everything right. You can do everything right and there's still someone on the road who could ruin your life. Some fucking idiot looking at his phone or some other psycho thinking he's fine after a couple drinks."

"Jinsol, you're not making any sense-"

"Both of them are too fucking complicated, okay?? I tried to put all of this into metaphor just so it would be easier, but it's not fucking easy. It's not getting easier. I want to be one hundred percent sure that I love Haseul, but I don't even know what love is! Am I just wasting time not being with her right now?"

Jungeun sighed at the barrage of words. She knew exactly what this was - it felt way too familiar to her. Jinsol was lying through her teeth; she knew what the answer was.

“You’re making this way too complicated."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

Jinsol stared Jungeun down like she was expecting her to explain.

"You're going overboard with the metaphor, and you're scared into actually diving into a relationship with Haseul, so you're making excuses as to why you shouldn't." Jungeun smiled slyly - and rightly so. She had cracked the code.

"Fuck you for reading me so well." Jinsol muttered, but there wasn't a hint of meanness in it.

Jungeun stood silent, taking a seat beside Jinsol on the couch and giving her all the time in the world. She was keenly aware that everything else was up to Jinsol to discover.

"I think I know what to do." Jinsol said, after a while.

Jungeun smiled. "Good. Now let's binge _Queer Eye_ again, you dork."

[...]

  
  


It was dark, and Jinsol let the car idle for a few minutes before definitively turning it off and stepping out. She was in front of Haseul's place, probably a little overdressed and anxiously fiddling with the buttons in her jacket.

She let her hand hang for a minute over the door before knocking. The nerves were dancing in her stomach, but they weren't crippling and she welcomed the feeling in a way.

Jinsol automatically held her breath as the door swung open, holding her hands together so they wouldn't fiddle around anymore. There was Haseul - not as overdressed, but beautiful all the same.

"I got your message," Haseul said as soon as she lay her eyes on Jinsol. "let's go?"

Jinsol nodded quickly, giving her space, trying to breathe normally as Haseul locked up and checked her pockets one last time.

They walked down the stairs in tandem, heading toward Jinsol's car.

"Congrats on getting your license, by the way." Haseul smiled, getting comfortable on the passenger seat.

"Thanks. Although the DMV in this country is a complete joke, so I wouldn't trust me completely." Haseul laughed at that as Jinsol pulled out of the parking spot.

Jinsol drove away from the apartment complex with the nerves still on her stomach, just chilling there in case they would be needed again. She had never been this particularly nervous around Haseul before, and she knew exactly why.

"I hope you don't mind the suddenness," Jinsol muttered, half to start a conversation and half to escape her own thoughts. "I just really wanted to see you."

"That's sweet of you to say. And I do trust you. A broken clock is right twice a day, right?"

"I guess so."

"But why?" Haseul noticed the lack of context would be weird for Jinsol, so she elaborated. "Why did you want to see me?"

"Oh," Jinsol, surprised by the question, took a while to think. "I guess I've just been figuring things out. And I finally finished doing that, so- you're the first person I would tell anything. I trust you."

It was a fifteen-minute drive to the lake. As the moon was full on the sky, it reflected a white, shining gleam on the water. And Jinsol thought - smartly, as well - that it would be the perfect place for a confession.

"And what is it? That you wanna tell me."

Was that hope? In the shine of Haseul's eyes? Jinsol didn't want to get her own hopes up.

She took a deep breath. "I've always loved you, Haseul. You know, in the way friends love each other, and care for each other. But now- now I think I'm feeling something else. Actually, I have been feeling it for a while, but it feels more real now. I like you- like, like like you. And I just needed to tell you, so I'm not setting myself up for a world of pa-"

But Jinsol didn't need to say anything else, as Haseul bridged their gap and closed the distance between their faces, kissing Jinsol quickly and earnestly, and effectively shutting her up.

"I was hoping you were going to say that." Haseul whispered, her hands on the sides of Jinsol's face. Their noses were still brushing against each other, and no one sane person would bet on their separation.

"Sorry for being a blabbermouth." Jinsol giggled.

"That's okay."

Jinsol initiated the kiss this time, falling deeper into her lips, wishing that moment would never end. It was like her heart was about to burst with happiness - bubbling so loud she wasn't sure she could contain herself. Jinsol might have screamed if she wasn't busy kissing Haseul.

They begrudgingly separated so they could get closer to the lake, walking hand in hand to the closest guardrails and observing the sheer gleam of the moon that lit everything around in cold light. But their hearts felt warm, and Jinsol's chin fit just right in the crook of Haseul's neck.

"I think we just entered the tally, too." Haseul pressed herself further against Jinsol, if that was even possible.

"What tally?"

"Best couple, obviously."

That cracked Jinsol up, and in turn her laugh made Haseul laugh even more.

"You mean it? You know, us- a couple?"

"Of course I do. I'm a little bit scared of their reactions, though."

Jinsol hugged Haseul harder. "Are you aware that probably half of them already know?"

"Yes. The familiarity is what makes it scary. I don't want to disappoint them. I wanna be a role model for them."

"And you are." Jinsol kissed her cheek. "I think it's nice that we're the late ones. They can teach us things we don't know."

"Oh god, I don't wanna have that conversation with Heejin and Hyunjin. I'd rather die."

"I didn't mean it like that!" Jinsol laughed even more.

Haseul paused for a moment. "You're right. There are things we can learn from them."

[...]

  
  


"So this is the place. On Fridays you can go there and ask for the free cake. To get it, you just have to kiss once."

It was amazing; the deadpan expression on Hyejoo's face perfectly fit with the way Haseul was side-eyeing her.

"And you know this, how…?"

"I like free cake." Hyejoo again, deadpanned.

"Just, don't. We don't wanna know." Jinsol dragged the notepad from their side with a hurried smile, tapping Haseul on the shoulder. "Heejin, Hyunjin?"

"Hyunjin and I go to the arcade all the time. They have great spots to make-"

"We. Don't. Want-"

"To know. Yeah." Hyunjin nodded. "Just find your own spots, then. We don't wanna know either, that's gross."

"Coming from you, that's a compliment."

Hyunjin smiled.

"Okay, I think that's all." Jinsol got up, and they all followed suit. "Let's go. Time for some fun."

They all drove to the parks, splitting in groups in order to divide and conquer. And as Jinsol looked at the Whack-A-Mole that looked just the same as it had, she couldn't help but smile. Because now, she felt it. That feeling of love that she had craved that day, it was there. And it appeared again and again, as she walked through the park with Haseul's hand in hers, knowing that all their kinds of love were different in some way, but they were probably very similar in others. It was that happiness, that natural feeling of falling into something deep, and good, and true.

It felt like a thrill.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I took way too long to finish this lol, so please comment/give kudos if you liked it!
> 
> that's it bye


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